Lyr Req: When The Work's All Done This Fall^^^

Subject: When The Works All Done This Fall
From:
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 09:05 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 09:24 PM

I typed When The Work's All Done This Fall in the search box and came up with it - can't seem to get a clicky to go with it though -

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 09:29 PM

Steve, I'll try it- not sure just how: Work maybe

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 09:33 PM

Too damn long. Work please

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 09:34 PM

At last! Should be a shorter handle to shorty.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Sorcha
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 09:36 PM

Thank you--I couldn't get SuperSam to cooperate at all!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From:
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 09:47 PM

This might work better in future editions.

/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=7800

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 10:26 PM

George, when I found the song, the heading was (in brief) shorty-mudcat-org/cgi-shl/as_web.exe?fall99+D+13176963. That's why I made an error the first time- too damn long to type without a mistake. No mention of songID 7800. How do you get those numbers and how do you use them?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From:
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 10:51 PM

Hi, Dicho,

I use the super search.

When it comes back you get a pair (haven't figured out why it does that)

Both links are to the same link. It uses the @displaysong.cfm method.

My speculation is that this is independent of the name of the file which holds the database. (Could NEVER understand why they didn't use the same name every time they updated the one the Mudcate used. The download should be a separate copy)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From:
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 10:55 PM

Also, I was shown that by doing it as

"<a href="/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=7800">/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=7800</a>

It will use whichever Mudcat machine you are on, instead of always sending the load to shorty.mudcat.org

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 24 Mar 02 - 11:32 PM

Well I'm glad someone figured it out - I looked at the length of the address and went - Hmmmmmmmm out of my ability - Thanks guys - hope the one who wanted it gets it -

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Mar 02 - 12:29 AM

Well, Why not eliminate the straight Lyrics search? I put the correct title in and nothing turns up. The lyrics-forum should only be needed if discussion is wanted as well. I had tried the supersearch, but apparently not all word combinations work. I found it the first time with @cowboy and scrolled through the list.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Mar 02 - 12:59 AM

So did anyone mail the requestor to come see?

~S~

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From:
Date: 25 Mar 02 - 01:36 AM

IT found it when I super searched. I used "When the work's all done". I figured the line didn't make sense with "When the works all done".

I just checked, and no, it won't find it with "works" but will with "work's".

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE WORK'S ALL DONE THIS FALL^^^
From: Ebbie
Date: 25 Mar 02 - 04:57 PM

WHEN THE WORK'S ALL DONE THIS FALL

A group of jolly cowboys discussing plans at ease,
Says one: "I'll tell you something, boys, if you will listen please;
I am an old cowpuncher and here I'm dressed in rags,
And I used to be a tough one and go on great big jags.

"But I have got a home, boys, a good one you all know;
Although I have not seen it since long, long ago.
I'm going back home, boys, once more to see them all;
Yes, I'm going to see my mother when the work's all done this fall.

"When I left my home, boys, my mother for me cried,
Begged me not to go, boys, for me she would have died;
My mother's heart is breaking, breaking for me that's all
And with God's help I'll see her when the work's all done this fall.

That very night this cowboy went out to stand his guard;
The night was dark and cloudy, and storming very hard;
The cattle they got frightened, and rushed in wild stampede,
The cowboy tried to head them, riding at full speed.

While riding in the darkness so loudly he did shout,
Trying his best to beat them and turn the herd about;
His saddle horse did stumble, and on him it did fall;
The poor boy won't see his mother when the work's all done this fall.

They picked him up so gently and laid him on a bed;
His body was so mangled the boys all thought him dead;
He opened wide his blue eyes and looking all around,
He motioned to his comrades to sit near him on the ground.

"Boys, send my mother my wages, the wages I have earned,
For I am afraid, boys, my last steer I have turned.
I am headed for a new range, I hear my Master call,
And I'll not see my mother when the work's all done this fall.

"Fred, you take my saddle; George you take my bed;
Bill, you take my pistol after I am dead.
And think upon me kindly when you look upon them all,
For I'll not see my mother when the work's all done this fall."

Charlie was buried at sunrise, no tombstone at his head,
Nothing but a little board, and this is what it said:

"Charlie died at daybreak, he died from a fall,
And he'll not see his mother when the work's all done this fall."
^^^

by J. D. O 'Malley

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Sorcha
Date: 25 Mar 02 - 05:04 PM

I did try with the apostrophe and it still wouldn't come up in SuperSearch. Was an "Ask Sam" error. Title index would not display it--"File Not Found" Key words @death @work didn't work either.........Vagaries, vagaries.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall
From: Mark Ross
Date: 25 Mar 02 - 07:46 PM

Actually, the Author is D.J. O'Malley a cowboy(though born in New York City)at the end of the 19th Century around Miles City, Montana. It was written to the tune of the then popular song AFTER THE BALL. Check out Glenn Ohrlins' recording.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Mar 02 - 08:18 PM

Ross is correct; it first appeared Oct. 6, 1893 in the Miles City "Stock Growers' Journal." Carl T. Sprague recorded the song for Victor in 1925; leaving out the verse "They picked him up so gently...".
The version posted above by Ebbie names the cowboys differently; I don't know which names O'Malley used. In the Sprague song, George got the saddle, Bill got the bed, and Jack, the pistol. Data from John I. White, "Git Along Little Dogies," Univ. Illinois Press, 1975.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 25 Mar 02 - 09:12 PM

I got this song from my Dad. He learned it in Jordan Valley, Oregon in the late 30s. I don't know who he cowboyed for over there but most of the hands knew the song. I also heard an old timer up on the South Fork of the Salmon River sing it when I was working for the Flying W in Big Creek, Idaho back in 1974-5. The words from both of them are pretty close to what you all have - the gear was as follows from the two sources I got it from:

Now Bill you take my saddle,
And George you take my bed,
Jack you take my pistol after I am dead.


Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From:
Date: 02 Apr 02 - 06:08 PM

Thanks to all who posted!

I did get the lyrics and they're much appreciated.

Best Wishes

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Apr 02 - 03:20 PM

Doc Watson does a slightly different version, where the wooden slab says He's headed for that better range, he heard his Master call" and the verse with those lines above is missing. Great song, reduced my late father-in-law to something mushy when he heard it in my car... said he hadn't heard it since he was a little feller, or something. Nice old man.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 03 Apr 02 - 03:53 PM

My understanding from a singer around here is that the guys who get the saddle, bedroll, and gun are named by whoever the person singing the song thinks appropriate -- usually friends. In my case, although I rarely sing this song, I use my dad and two uncles, who happen to be George, Bill and Jim. Makes it easy to remember.

Subject: Lyr Add: AFTER THE ROUNDUP (D.J. O'Malley, 1893)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 02:14 PM

Lyr. Add: AFTER THE ROUNDUP (When the Work's...)
(D. J. O'Malley original, 1893)

A group of jolly cowboys discussed their plans at ease.
Said one, "I'll tell you something, boys, if you please:
See, I'm a puncher, dressed most in rags.
I used to be a wild one and took on big jags.
I have a home, boys, a good one, you know,
But I haven't seen it since long, long ago.
But I'm going home, boys, once more to see them all.
Yes, I'll go back home when work is done this fall.

"After the roundup's over, after the shipping's done,
I'm going straight back home, boys, ere all my money's gone.
My mother's dear heart is breaking, breaking for me, that's all;
But, with God's help I'll see her, when work is done this fall.

"When I left my home, boys, for me she cried,
Begging me to stay, boys. For me she'd have died.
I haven't used her right, boys. My hard-earned cash I've spent,
When I should have saved it and it to mother sent.
But, I've changed my course, boys. I'll be a better man
And help my poor old mother. I'm sure that I can.
I'll walk in the straight path. No more will I fall,
And I'll see my mother when work's done this fall."

That very night this cowboy went on guard.
The night it was dark and 'twas storming very hard.
The cattle got frightened and rushed in mad stampede.
He tried to check them, riding full speed.

Riding in the darkness, loud he did shout,
Doing his utmost to turn the herd about.
His saddle horse stumbled on him did fall.
He'll not see his mother when work's done this fall.

They picked him up gently and laid him on a bed.
The poor boy was mangled. They thought he was dead.
He opened his blue eyes and gazed all around,
Then motioned his comrades to sit near him on the ground.
"Send her the wages that I have earned.
Boys, I'm afraid that my last steer I've turned.
I'm going to a new range. I hear the Master call.
I'll not see my mother when work's done this fall.

"Bill, take my saddle. George, take my bed.
Fred, take my pistol after I am dead.
Think of me kindly when on them you look."
His voice then grew fainter. With anguish he shook.
His friends gathered closer and on them he gazed,
His breath coming fainter, his eyes growing glazed.
He uttered a few words, heard by them all:
"I'll see my mother when work's done this fall."

D. J. White, SA Ranch (One of O'Malley's pseudonyms).

Published in the "Stock Growers' Journal, Miles City, MT, October 4, 1893. Facsimile printed in "D. J. O'Malley, 'Cowboy Poet," by D. J. O'Malley and John I. White, The Montana Folklife Project, 1986, Helena, MT; booklet originally published and copyrighted by D. J. O'Malley in 1934.
John I. White published "Git Along, Little Dogies," 1975, Univ. Illinois Press. This book has a biography on O'Malley. O'Malley went to work for the Home Land and Cattle Company, MT, in 1884.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Warsaw Ed
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 08:12 PM

The Record Lady's All Time Country Hits has a recording sung by Montana Slim.   Can be downloaded on Real Audio. Ed

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 10:02 PM

Who was the first singer to put 'tombstone' and 'Charlie' in the last verse?? It appears in Lomax, 1925 enlarged edition of "Cowboy Songs," but the song may not have been in the original 1910 printing (don't have). Notes by Lomax in the new 1938 edition don't help much.

O'Malley's mother remarried when her husband died in 1870. The new husband was Charles White, also a Union veteran, who moved his family to Fort Sanders, Wyoming Territory, in 1876, where he enlisted in the Second Cavalry. O'Malley attached the name White to several of his songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Jan 04 - 10:04 PM

The information above on the name White from John I. White, Git Along, Little Dogies, 1975, Univ. Illinois Press.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 13 Jan 04 - 03:00 PM

Well I'll be darned - Thanks for the history.

Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 11:13 AM

The song appears as "When the Work is Done This Fall" on pp. 53ff. of both the 1910 and 1916 editions of Lomax. (I have a photocopy of both tables of contents, but not the text of the song itself.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 12:03 PM

Thanks, Lighter; I have added a note to my 1925 reprint. Lomax gives no credit to O'Malley (and gives no source).
In the 1938 revision, Lomax and Lomax mention the O'Malley printing of 1893, but say that their version came from a Lee Lytton of Fort Worth, TX and originated on the Spotted Wood Trail, Wyoming (no other documentation), and change the title to "When the Work's All Done This Fall." O'Malley used the line "When work is done this Fall" in verses 1-2 and "When work's done this fall" in the rest.
The match of the names of the cowboys and their bequests differ from the O'Malley poem in all editions.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 03:58 PM

Worth mentioning too is that Carl Sandburg printed a version with music in his influential "The American Songbag" (1927).

I've ordered 1910 Lomax on interlibrary loan and will report what I find.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Jan 04 - 10:59 PM

Carl Sandburg said "Radio Mack of San Francisco, of the regular army and of western cattle ranches, communicated the tune and verses." This has the "tombstone" verse (see version given by Ebbie, above, not by D. J. O'Malley).

The 1916 Lomax revision needs to be checked as well. There are several works that have been revised and supplemented in more recent editions. The additions are seldom identified, leading to confusion as to when the changes were made and the substance of the changes. The Lomax volumes are a notable example but there are others.

(Not pertinent here, but another example is "Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro," first issued as Cabin and Plantation Songs... in 1874 by Fenner. Additions were made in 1891, 1909 and 1926, the last by Dett. In works by others, these additions sometimes are referenced to Fenner (although he died before they were made) leading to assumptions that the songs were known to Fenner in 1874.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Mark Ross
Date: 21 Jan 04 - 07:50 PM

"Radio Mack" would most likely be Harry Kirby McClintock, "Haywire Mac", who wrote the BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN and HALLELUJAH, I'M A BUM. Aat least, RADIO MAC was one of the psuedonyms that McClintock recorded under.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 21 Jan 04 - 08:20 PM

The revisions in 1916 Lomax seem to be limited to lyrics added to the end of the book. The pagination and contents are otherwise identical.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Jan 04 - 09:00 PM

Lighter, what were these added songs? Would really appreciate getting their titles. PM if you don't want to clutter up the thread.
You seem to be right about the pagination- pp. 53ff is the same in the 1925 edition for "When the work..."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jan 04 - 11:49 PM

Great thread, thanks all! This was one of our very favourites when I was growing up. Poor dad, we were always bugging him to sing it. It's great to learn more of the history than what my 1986 reprint of Lomax lists.

kat

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Lighter
Date: 09 Feb 04 - 11:04 PM

Both "Charlie" and "tombstone" appear in the final stanza of the song in the 1910 edition of Lomax. This text (no tune) is nearly identical to that in Lomax 1938. There are a few trivial punctuation differences. I see only two other distinctions: in stanza 2, 1910's final line "Yes, I'm going to see my mother when the work's all done this fall," becomes, in 1938, "I'm going back to see...."

By far the most substantive change is that 1910's stanza 3 becomes a "Chorus" in 1938, placed immediately after stanza 1! I've never heard the song performed this way, and really wouldn't care to!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Works All Done This Fall^^^
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Feb 04 - 11:26 PM

The Lomaxes, in 1938, say their version was obtained from a Lee Lytton of Fort Worth, TX, so he may be to blame for adding the 'tombstone' to D. J. O'Malley's original.
The Lomaxes apparently didn't know that the name D. J. White, which O'Malley used for a while, came from his step-father's last name.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When The Work's All Done This Fall^^^
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Mar 22 - 01:59 PM

https://youtu.be/uU7sV8LcsT4

Carl T. Sprague 1925